Author Archives: mbajane

Icing on the Cake

Posted on May 9, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

Some badges are just plain tasty. Homemade potato chips, organic grocery shopping …

Did someone say “icing on the cake?” Count me in, and quickly!

Continue reading →

Backyard Farmer Merit Badge

Posted on April 25, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

Well, my little chickadees, I’m moving on to successful Farmgirl in a speedy fashion! I’ve done it: I’m an animal owner (Ms. Twinkles doesn’t count, she thinks she’s a person and I hate to dash her hopes and dreams of world domination by telling her she’s a Pomeranian).

I brought home three of the cutest, spunkiest, most adorable baby chicks EVAH!

Now the requirements for my newest badge, Backyard Farmer, are a no-brainer.

Continue reading →

MBA Jane gratitude journal

Posted on April 17, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

Dear Diary,

It’s Day 1 of my Gratitude Journal challenge! You have no idea, dear diary, how difficult it is to write words in their entirety instead of shortening them to text-speak. But I am determined to break the habit, lol! Oh, drat. Well, anyway, this is all about being thankful, so here goes:

I am thankful for …

Continue reading →

Homemade Potato Chip Recipe

Posted on April 11, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

After the trauma I endured turning off all my electronics in my last badge attempt, I decided to try a merit badge that would be a little less on the stressful side, a little more on the yummy side: namely, the Unprocessed Kitchen badge—purchasing a guilty pleasure item at the grocery store and then replicating it (organically, of course) at home.

Now, I’ve never been much of a cook, but I am motivated by some things, and salt and vinegar potato chips are one of them! Nothing has put me in the gym faster than a midnight binge of salty, greasy goodness. Maintaining my figure would be a heck of a lot easier without them, you know what I’m saying? They may, in fact, be …

gladsome_potato_chips-0838 Continue reading →

Disconnect to Reconnect

Posted on March 31, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

I’m doing it, hens. The impossible. The never-before attempted. The merit badge requirement that leaves me nervous, weirded out, and full of butterflies in my stomach. More than sewing, more than getting greasy with my car, more than the thought of tent camping …

Continue reading →

old-fashioned-like

Posted on March 25, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

While wading through the requirements for my Sew Wonderful badge, I got a little stuck. Well, more than a little stuck. It had to do with the sewing machine.

Continue reading →

Like. Sooooooo wonderful.

Posted on March 11, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

This morning, I took a look at the requirements for the beginner Sew Wonderful badge in Stitching and Crafting. Seems pretty simple—put together a beginner’s sewing kit, complete with things like different-colored threads, needles, pins, etc. Sounds like shopping to this girl! Who needs encouragement for a little retail therapy, after all? Not this wannabe farm chick …

Continue reading →

Grease Chicks (part 1)

Posted on February 26, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

I’m pretty excited about my new badge earnings today, girls. By the time I’m done, I will officially be a grease chick. That’s right, I’m breaking into boy territory here: cars. Up until now, all I knew about cars was how to look good driving one. (If there’s a merit badge for that, I’ll look like an over-achieving Girl Scout.) But no, today is not about driving my convertible; it’s about getting down and dirty with it.

Continue reading →

“Out There” Merit Badge: with recipe for Half-Cup Pemmican

Posted on February 25, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

To earn my intermediate level “Out There” badge, I first picked out items for my survival pack, then I cooked a full meal over just a campfire. Click here for two delicious hobo dinner ideas you can cook up with family and friends. To complete my intermediate badge I either needed to make my own trail mix and/or pemmican using this recipe …